Chapter 1
"BREAKFAST!! EVERYBODY UP!"
Silver groaned, looking at the clock. "It's only 4 in the morning...." He covered his head with his pillow.
Rogue dropped down, taking the pillow off of his head. "Get up, boy. You heard the guard, breakfast."
Silver growled, but got up. He'd go wolf and run, but one, he'd be shot, and two, the place was enchanted so no unicorns could wink, no one with a second form could run, and many other things. Silver went over to the door, yawning.
Rogue waited patiently for the door to open, then headed off to breakfast when it did open. He turned around and pulled Silver along. "You need to eat so you can do your work."
"What work?"
One of the guards laughed, then said, "Chain gang work, boy! Cleaning up the highways and such."
Silver gulped. He looked at Rogue. "Don't they beat you up on the chain gang?"
Rogue frowned. "Not if you hang out with the right ponies. Everyone here fears me, so to say, so if you stick with me, you'll be fine."
Silver nodded a bit, following along.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Khopesh paced the room, thinking hard. Strung out in different parts of the room were the other guardians, save for two, one being dead from old age, the other, stuck in jail. He shook his head, thinking it a disgrace that one of them was in such trouble with the law. Last time that happened, they got off with a ticket, and he had wanted to make a second one dead. He looked at Blade, said guardian that had caused the trouble with the car. He shuddered, remembering that. He went and sat down, still thinking.
Scimitar watched his best friend. He was worried for Khopesh, he hadn't really slept at all in days, or eaten much. If he kept up, they'd have an idiot for a leader. He looked down when he felt a tug on his tail and saw his year old son, Thorn Joust. He bent down, picking the boy up. He sat there, playing with the younge child, yet still worried. When he had married the love of his life, Magnolia, he had become the step father of her other five kids, one of which was Blade. Then there was Silver, who was stuck with Rogue in jail, but... Scimitar didn't care much for Rogue, they were like two different forces. They hated each other. One could tell just by looking that they were different. Rogue was a pegasus, Scimitar a unicorn. Rogue was black, Scimitar was gray. While Scimitar had green hair, Rogue had red, a blood red. Where Scimitar's eyes were blue and he had an amulet, Rogue's eyes were red, and he had no amulet. Rogue had only lived as long as he had because of the half a demon in him, and the same went for his sister, Emerald Dagger. Playing with his son, Scimitar forgot about his worries for the moment, lost in a world of joy.
Blade stared out the window, a bit zoned out. One of his brothers was in jail, and he couldn't help him. Then again, it was Silver, and Silver tended to fix some of his own problems, like finding out that the youngest grand daughter of the former queen, Majesty, liked him. Blade, though, had his own problems. He didn't feel like he fit in with the guardians, like he was the odd pony out. He watched a cloud go by, and almost thought it looked like Silver. He shook his head, clearing the thought. He ran a hoof through his hair. It had been shortened considerably in his last fight with Khopesh. At least both got out with their lives, they'd have killed each other if Scimitar and Excalibur hadn't stepped in. Blade looked over at Excalibur. He was like an older brother to Blade, helping him with problems if he had any. The pony was one of a kind, the only one from England. He carried his accent well, too. Blade watched Excalibur play with his oldest daughter, Snapdragon, a truly one of a kind pony in any sort of way. Blade went back to staring out the window.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Fuck!" Silver dropped a piece of glass, cradling his hoof.
Rogue went over, prying Silver's hoof free of the other one. He looked, then tore off a piece of his orange suit, tying it around the cut. "Be carefull."
"Thanks for the advice..." Silver went back to work, noticing the look one of the guards was giving him. He picked up the peice of glass again, being carefull this time. He put it in with the rest of the glass he'd picked up.
Through the course of the day, they'd been picking up garbage. The summer sun was high, making the majority of the workers remove their shirts, to the delight of the girls that drove by. Rogue had left his on, but being a black pony, the sun was getting to him. He stood tall, looking around, then pulled his shirt over his head, giving in to the heat of the day. This made several girls stop their cars to get out and run over. The guards stopped them. Rogue simply laughed, it happened every time.
Silver didn't even bother with his shirt, he just left it on. He'd deal with the heat, even if it killed him. Sweat trickled down his arm, right on to his hoof, getting under the make-shift bandage. He yelped, holding his hoof.
Rogue frowned. "You wouldn't sweat so much if you removed your shirt. It helps a lot. Or do you want to die from the heat?"
Silver looked at him like he had lost it.
"I'm not joking, it's happened."
Silver gulped, then looked down at his dull orange shirt. It had no buttons, so it had to be pulled over his head. He gave in like everyone else, removing his own shirt. He felt a lot better now, then felt a sharp sting on his back. He whipped around, seeing a guard.
"Get back to work!"
Silver quickly got back to work, being carefull the whole time with his hoof.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magnolia sat on the edge of a sort of garden in front of the court house, a bit depressed. She had tried to get Silver out of jail, but had failed. She winced as her youngest child pulled on her hair. She took off the carier she had on, taking Glider, her youngest son, out.
"I guess you don't really have to worry about much, do you?" She smiled, tickling his nose.
Anyone who saw Glider thought he was just adorable. Not many males has rainbow hair. And of those that did have hair like that, few of them were big brother ponies. Glider was one of those few, and he took after both of his parents in having wings. Just by looking, you wouldn't be able to tell that his bones weren't hollow enough to allow flight, or that his wings were too small to help with flight. But then, he was just a baby, so what did he need flight for?
Looking at the sky, Magnolia saw that the sun was going down. To be in town when it was dark and you were alone was a dangerouse thing in Dream Valley. One couldn't tell who or what was lerking in the shadows. Magnolia got up, grabbing the carrier. "Time to go home, little guy." She smiled at Glider, then turned and headed for home. She could try again tomorrow to get Silver out, if she could get enough for bail.
"BREAKFAST!! EVERYBODY UP!"
Silver groaned, looking at the clock. "It's only 4 in the morning...." He covered his head with his pillow.
Rogue dropped down, taking the pillow off of his head. "Get up, boy. You heard the guard, breakfast."
Silver growled, but got up. He'd go wolf and run, but one, he'd be shot, and two, the place was enchanted so no unicorns could wink, no one with a second form could run, and many other things. Silver went over to the door, yawning.
Rogue waited patiently for the door to open, then headed off to breakfast when it did open. He turned around and pulled Silver along. "You need to eat so you can do your work."
"What work?"
One of the guards laughed, then said, "Chain gang work, boy! Cleaning up the highways and such."
Silver gulped. He looked at Rogue. "Don't they beat you up on the chain gang?"
Rogue frowned. "Not if you hang out with the right ponies. Everyone here fears me, so to say, so if you stick with me, you'll be fine."
Silver nodded a bit, following along.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Khopesh paced the room, thinking hard. Strung out in different parts of the room were the other guardians, save for two, one being dead from old age, the other, stuck in jail. He shook his head, thinking it a disgrace that one of them was in such trouble with the law. Last time that happened, they got off with a ticket, and he had wanted to make a second one dead. He looked at Blade, said guardian that had caused the trouble with the car. He shuddered, remembering that. He went and sat down, still thinking.
Scimitar watched his best friend. He was worried for Khopesh, he hadn't really slept at all in days, or eaten much. If he kept up, they'd have an idiot for a leader. He looked down when he felt a tug on his tail and saw his year old son, Thorn Joust. He bent down, picking the boy up. He sat there, playing with the younge child, yet still worried. When he had married the love of his life, Magnolia, he had become the step father of her other five kids, one of which was Blade. Then there was Silver, who was stuck with Rogue in jail, but... Scimitar didn't care much for Rogue, they were like two different forces. They hated each other. One could tell just by looking that they were different. Rogue was a pegasus, Scimitar a unicorn. Rogue was black, Scimitar was gray. While Scimitar had green hair, Rogue had red, a blood red. Where Scimitar's eyes were blue and he had an amulet, Rogue's eyes were red, and he had no amulet. Rogue had only lived as long as he had because of the half a demon in him, and the same went for his sister, Emerald Dagger. Playing with his son, Scimitar forgot about his worries for the moment, lost in a world of joy.
Blade stared out the window, a bit zoned out. One of his brothers was in jail, and he couldn't help him. Then again, it was Silver, and Silver tended to fix some of his own problems, like finding out that the youngest grand daughter of the former queen, Majesty, liked him. Blade, though, had his own problems. He didn't feel like he fit in with the guardians, like he was the odd pony out. He watched a cloud go by, and almost thought it looked like Silver. He shook his head, clearing the thought. He ran a hoof through his hair. It had been shortened considerably in his last fight with Khopesh. At least both got out with their lives, they'd have killed each other if Scimitar and Excalibur hadn't stepped in. Blade looked over at Excalibur. He was like an older brother to Blade, helping him with problems if he had any. The pony was one of a kind, the only one from England. He carried his accent well, too. Blade watched Excalibur play with his oldest daughter, Snapdragon, a truly one of a kind pony in any sort of way. Blade went back to staring out the window.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Fuck!" Silver dropped a piece of glass, cradling his hoof.
Rogue went over, prying Silver's hoof free of the other one. He looked, then tore off a piece of his orange suit, tying it around the cut. "Be carefull."
"Thanks for the advice..." Silver went back to work, noticing the look one of the guards was giving him. He picked up the peice of glass again, being carefull this time. He put it in with the rest of the glass he'd picked up.
Through the course of the day, they'd been picking up garbage. The summer sun was high, making the majority of the workers remove their shirts, to the delight of the girls that drove by. Rogue had left his on, but being a black pony, the sun was getting to him. He stood tall, looking around, then pulled his shirt over his head, giving in to the heat of the day. This made several girls stop their cars to get out and run over. The guards stopped them. Rogue simply laughed, it happened every time.
Silver didn't even bother with his shirt, he just left it on. He'd deal with the heat, even if it killed him. Sweat trickled down his arm, right on to his hoof, getting under the make-shift bandage. He yelped, holding his hoof.
Rogue frowned. "You wouldn't sweat so much if you removed your shirt. It helps a lot. Or do you want to die from the heat?"
Silver looked at him like he had lost it.
"I'm not joking, it's happened."
Silver gulped, then looked down at his dull orange shirt. It had no buttons, so it had to be pulled over his head. He gave in like everyone else, removing his own shirt. He felt a lot better now, then felt a sharp sting on his back. He whipped around, seeing a guard.
"Get back to work!"
Silver quickly got back to work, being carefull the whole time with his hoof.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Magnolia sat on the edge of a sort of garden in front of the court house, a bit depressed. She had tried to get Silver out of jail, but had failed. She winced as her youngest child pulled on her hair. She took off the carier she had on, taking Glider, her youngest son, out.
"I guess you don't really have to worry about much, do you?" She smiled, tickling his nose.
Anyone who saw Glider thought he was just adorable. Not many males has rainbow hair. And of those that did have hair like that, few of them were big brother ponies. Glider was one of those few, and he took after both of his parents in having wings. Just by looking, you wouldn't be able to tell that his bones weren't hollow enough to allow flight, or that his wings were too small to help with flight. But then, he was just a baby, so what did he need flight for?
Looking at the sky, Magnolia saw that the sun was going down. To be in town when it was dark and you were alone was a dangerouse thing in Dream Valley. One couldn't tell who or what was lerking in the shadows. Magnolia got up, grabbing the carrier. "Time to go home, little guy." She smiled at Glider, then turned and headed for home. She could try again tomorrow to get Silver out, if she could get enough for bail.
